Tottenham Hotspur won their first game in the Europa League since October to boost their chances of qualifying directly for the round of 16.
Spurs travelled to Germany with a squad depleted by injuries, with Pape Matar Sarr the latest to pull out with a hamstring issue picked up in the training session the day before the game. Ange Postecoglou had to name a weakened starting XI, while five teenagers were on the bench, but his side still managed to secure a crucial 3-2 victory over Hoffenheim.
James Maddison opened the scoring and Son Heung-min extended their lead midway through the first half. Hoffenheim fought back through Anton Stach’s finish but Son’s 77th-minute strike appeared to seal the game. David Mokwa’s late effort made it a nervy final few minutes but Spurs held on for a crucial three points.
Here, The Athletic’s Jay Harris and Seb Stafford-Bloor break down the biggest moments.
Exactly what Son (and Spurs) needed
Son Heung-Min has come under a lot of scrutiny for his performances this season. The South Korea international has been exceptional for Spurs over the last decade and has bailed them out on countless occasions but it feels like his star is waning. The 32-year-old spurned a couple of presentable opportunities in Sunday’s defeat at Everton, including close-range shot which was easily saved by Jordan Pickford when the score was only 1-0, and looked devastated after the match.
Son and other senior players, including James Maddison, have been overshadowed by teenage talents Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall in recent weeks. With 10 players unavailable due to injury against Hoffenheim on Thursday evening, it was about time they both stepped up.
(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Maddison scored in the first few minutes and then Son had a fantastic chance to extend their lead. He latched onto a pass from Ben Davies, chopped inside Hoffenheim’s full-back onto his stronger right foot but blazed a shot over the bar.
They continued to threaten and in the 22nd minute directly combined for Tottenham’s second. Maddison pounced on a loose ball from a throw-in, fed Son in space on the left wing and his shot was deflected over the goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. It was a scruffy finish but will have boosted his confidence.
Son’s goal in the second half, which turned out to be the winner, was magnificent and a reminder of what he is capable of. Rodrigo Bentancur intercepted the ball and it fell to Maddison who found Son in space out wide again. Son bamboozled his marker with a couple of quick stepovers, dropped his shoulder and drilled a left-footed shot into the bottom corner. What Ange Postecoglou needs now from his captain is for him to reproduce this level of performance every week in the Premier League.
Jay Harris
Bergvall’s influence continues to grow
Among the micro issues this season, Lucas Bergvall’s development is among the most positive — and this was another fine night for him.
Bergvall’s evolution this season has two prongs: physical and technical.
From looking like a boy on the pitch on the tour of Asia and during his formative Premier League and European experiences, he now carries himself like a senior player, happy to mix it with gnarled pros, to leave some studs or an elbow on an opponent at the right moment.
(Harry Langer/Getty Images)
It’s very important and deeply encouraging that that change has happened so quickly. Out of necessity perhaps, given Tottenham’s predicament, but it’s still good news. A couple of Hoffenheim players challenged him on Thursday and he was the target of a robust tackle in the first half, but none of that attention had an impact.
There has been some technical improvement, too, and a change in the speed with which he does everything. In the heart of midfield, Bergvall was a lively, almost ethereal presence, dancing into spaces to receive the ball, drawing a man, and then passing into space.
There’s a rhythm to his game now and a timing. There was no reward for them on Thursday night, but his box-crashing runs have the promise of future goals and that’s another sign that he’s growing bolder in this environment.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
A familiar sight: Spurs looking knackered
The structures that had worked well for Spurs in the first half melted quickly away in the second. Whether the result of fatigue or Richarlison’s departure and the subsequent lack of proper focal point, it left Hoffenheim on the front foot for at least 20 minutes and able to pen Postecoglou’s side in their own half.
The passes that the visitors had found through the middle of the pitch were gone. The slickness with which they had played vanished too. As did their balance with the ball. When TSG’s first goal arrived, it was from Tottenham’s inability to contain a counter attack, and close the yawning spaces behind their full-backs. The second, while only a consolation, was the result of a failure to put any pressure on the ball and stop a simple cross to the backpost.
Both were very, very easy in a way that has become horribly familiar.
Given the strain on this group of players and the fact that only Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear among the outfield substitutes had any first team experience, a lull was inevitable, but it still underlined just how arduous a period this has been and how fragile this team remains.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
On the very same day that Brandon Austin finally made his debut for Spurs, the news broke that the club were about to complete the signing of Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague. It must have been bittersweet for the 26-year-old keeper, who came through the Spurs academy, to have his special moment overshadowed.
Austin looked solid in Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on January 4 but a few days later Kinsky was thrown straight into the starting XI for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool. The Czech Republic Under-21 international impressed and, with Fraser Forster close to a return from illness, it felt like Austin may have already played his last game for his boyhood club.
Kinksy is ineligible to represent Tottenham in the league phase of the Europa League and Ange Postecoglou showed his faith in Austin by rewarding him with a second start instead of playing Forster.
Austin did not have much to do in the first half as Spurs were in control of the game but he produced a fantastic save with his right hand to prevent Tom Bischof’s half-volley from nestling into the bottom corner.
He was, however, at the centre of controversy in the 63rd minute. Kevin Akpoguma whipped a cross into the box and Austin tried to push the ball away. He collided with Hoffenheim’s striker Max Moerstedt and the referee immediately awarded a penalty and booked a clearly shocked Austin.
Andrej Kramaric stepped up to take the penalty but at the last moment, the referee went over to the pitchside screen to review the footage and eventually reversed his decision. He shook hands with Austin in a moment of peace. The goalkeeper narrowly avoided a nightmare scenario on his European debut.
There was nothing he could do about the two Hoffenheim goals that did follow, and the scoreline was probably not a fair reflection of the Tottenham keeper’s performance. It feels like his role as the club’s third-choice keeper is secure.
Jay Harris
What next for Tottenham?
Sunday, January 26: Leicester City (H), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET
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(Top photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
